Force of Nature
by WarriorGirl52
Summary: After a shocking turn of events one night, Kara Danvers is left with frustration, sadness, and determination to get to the bottom of things. What are the true intentions of Project Cadmus? And as if Supergirl didn't have enough on her plate, what happens when Adam shows back up at CatCo? One things for sure... Kara, Alex, Hank, and the rest of the crew have a long journey ahead!
1. Chapter 1

**AN: Hi everyone! This is my first fanfiction to ever post online and what better way to start than with Supergirl?! Anyway, I hope you enjoy! I'll try my best to update regularly, but I do have quite a tight schedule with college classes… Ugh. Feel free to leave a review and let me know what you think! Happy reading!**

 **Disclaimer: I do not own any of the Supergirl characters/cast! *Sigh***

Chapter One

"You don't want to do that," Supergirl said softly but firmly. She kept her eyes locked with the man who was holding a gun up to the crying woman's chest. Kara had been flying around National City doing her routine patrol when she heard this woman's panicked screams when the gunman had tried to mug her.

"P-Please don't hurt m-me," the woman begged.

"Shut up!" the man yelled and shoved the gun violently into her chest, which made the terrified lady whimper.

Kara's stomach turned a little and she took a cautious step towards the pair. As the cool fall wind started to blow, a strong scent of alcohol and… _what was that smell?_ Kara couldn't place the smell, but she assumed it was some type of drug by the way the rugged man looked.

 _C'mon Kara. Don't show your fear. Just take deep breaths and be strong. You can handle this,_ Kara mentally encouraged herself. She kept her arm extended in front of her and her hand steady, reaching for the gun. Again, she started to take another step forward, but stopped immediately.

"Don't come any closer," the man spat and somewhat slurred. "Or I'll shoot her!"

The woman whimpered again and began to shake even worse than before. Kara calmly made eye contact with the frightened lady and gave her a small smile and nod of reassurance. _It'll be okay. I've got you,_ Kara tried to mentally tell the woman, who straightened up a bit and nodded back at National City's hero. Kara turned her eyes back on the angered man.

"Okay, I'll stay right here," Supergirl said in the same tone as before. "I just need you to hand me the gun slowly. You don't want to hurt her or anyone else."

For the first time since this encounter started, the gunman actually looked back and forth between Supergirl and the woman like he was unsure. Kara quickly tried to take advantage of his uncertainty.

"Just hand me the gun… Please," Kara added trying to keep him feeling like he was in some sort of control during the situation. "This can all be over and nobody has to get hurt, I promise."

Kara decided against taking a step closer and instead settled for just wiggling her fingers a little, asking for the gun. Finally, the man started to lower the gun.

That is, until the police sirens could be heard in the distance.

"You lied!" The man yelled and shoved the gun back into the woman's chest again, causing her to cry out in fear. "You called the cops."

"No! Listen to me. I didn't call them, I swear to you," Supergirl's voice came out a little more panicked than she meant it to, but she somehow managed to keep a calm face. Her mind was racing as she tried to figure out what to do. _Just talk to him Kara._ "What's your name?"

Confused, the man answered hesitantly after a couple of seconds. "Michael… Why does it matter?"

"Because Michael, I'm sure you have a family out there somewhere, right?"

Michael looked down and Kara caught a glimpse of sadness followed by shame and guilt cross his features. He shook his head. "Not anymore," the man slurred and then blew out air as he dealt with whatever problems had led him to this point. Kara's sensitive smelling picked up that weird smell on top of the heavy alcohol smell and she had to keep herself from wrinkling her nose at the stink of it. She sometimes hated having such keen alien senses. "But it doesn't matter! You lied to me. You said nobody was getting hurt, but the cops are coming to take me away."

Supergirl shook her head and managed to take another step without Michael noticing in his state of distress. "No, Michael. They aren't, trust me on this. Hand me the gun and let this innocent lady go home safely. She has a family that needs her."

Michael looked up at the woman. The poor girl had tears and mascara running everywhere. And Kara didn't blame her. She wished she could have ended this a lot sooner, but she was afraid she wouldn't be fast enough to keep the gunman from shooting before she could stop him or take the gun. It was just too risky.

"Please, I-I… have two young girls." The woman cried and looked back at the man, but stayed completely still with the gun resting on her chest.

Something in Michael seemed to give and he slowly lowered his gun, his hands shaking. "Go home to your little girls."

Shocked, the woman stayed still. Possibly even scared that it was some sort of nasty trick.

"I said GO! GET OUT OF HERE!" Michael yelled. Kara flinched, but gave the woman a quick nod telling her to go. The woman hastily and clumsily ran down the alley and then out of sight around the corner. Bringing her attention back to Michael, Kara kept her hand held out.

"Thank you, but I still need you to hand me the gun, please." Kara was relieved that the woman was no longer in danger, but she still had a sick feeling settling in her gut.

The sirens got closer and the alley began to light up with blue flashing lights of the incoming cop cars. Kara could hear with her super hearing that they weren't about to slow down and stop, but she never had time to tell Michael that.

The events that unfolded next were ones that Kara would never forget.

Michael raised the gun to his own head and looked straight into Supergirl's eyes. "You can't save everybody, Supergirl. But you will always try because you have a heart of a true hero. That's why my little Jessie always looked up to you. You put a smile on her face when nobody else could. Thank you, Supergirl. I'm sorry for how all of this has to end."

Kara, still in a state of shock and confusion, tried to make sense of his words, but shoved them to the back of her head for the moment. The feeling in her gut got even worse as she tried to figure out what to do.

"No, Michael, don't!" Kara started to move forward and saw his finger twitch, but was relieved when he didn't pull the trigger. "Listen to me, Michael. You had a little girl didn't you? That's why you let the woman go."

With tears streaming down his cheeks, he slowly nodded. "My Jessie." His eyes flickered to the alley entrance behind her as he watched National City's police cars fly past. He looked at Supergirl with a little more trust than before. Kara smiled.

"That's a beautiful name. I'm sure she loves yo—," Kara was cut off as Michael blew up.

"Loved! She's gone! They said they could fix her but… But they lied! They killed her, I know it! All those experiments and wires and machines! I was willing to do anything to save her but it's all my fault now! She's dead because of me. Because of them! And now I have all these voices in my head all the time. All the time."

Kara listened and her heart broke for Michael. She truly wished she could bring his little girl back and she wished she could ease his thoughts. She wanted to bring some sort of closure to this grieving father, but she had only one job at the moment. Keep Michael from killing himself.

But she also couldn't stop all of the questions that flooded her mind. _Who was he talking about? What had been wrong with Jessie? Experiments? Voices?_ Kara shoved the questions out of her mind and tried to concentrate on the task at hand once again.

"It's okay. I know what you must be feeling. Twelve years ago, I lost my family. I lost my whole planet. But I can't even begin to imagine what you're going through." A familiar ache of loss captured Kara's heart as she thought of her home planet and her parents. She missed them so much, but she hoped telling Michael this would somehow help the current situation. "I'm sure Jessie was a wonderful little girl. Let me help you. You mentioned experiments and somebody you think killed her. I have resources and we can work together to figure everything out, whatever it may be." If there was something more to his little girl dying, Kara was sure Alex, Hank, and the rest of the DEO could help in some way, even if it wasn't involving aliens.

Michael shuffled his feet a little and hope began to show in his eyes. "Really? You would do that for me? For my little girl?"

"Yes. I will do my best to help as much as possible. Now, please, hand me the gun."

Nodding his head, Michael started to lower the gun. "You have to understand, Supergirl. This is some top-notch government agency. I signed a contract because I wanted to save Jessie. I didn't know what they would do… what they were capable of. They never intended to truly cure Jessie. I started to run investigations on them, especially after my daughter… passed. I used to be a detective before I had to stop working to take care of my daughter more. I made them mad, really mad."

Kara felt the cool metal of the gun as Michael handed it over. She took a deep breath and finally began to relax. "Thank you, Michael," she began but couldn't say anymore before he continued to rattle off information.

"I discovered that they are located somewhere close, but I'm not sure of the specific location. I did discover, however, that they call themselves Project Cadm—."

BANG. BANG.

Kara fell to her knees as white, hot fire spread in both of her calves. Such a tremendous amount of pain could only mean one thing—kryptonite. Desperately, Kara looked up at Michael as she groaned and instantly forgot about all of her pain. There was a single Red Dot on his forehead.

"No!" Kara yelled as she used all of her strength in her weakened state to spring into action. The fire in her calves exploded as she launched herself towards Michael.

BANG.

 **To Be Continued…**


	2. Chapter 2

**AN:** Wow! You guys are absolutely amazing! Thank you so much to everyone who reviewed, followed, favorited, or read my first chapter! It means so much to me. You all had such kind words in your reviews and, again, thank you! I know I left everybody on quite the cliffhanger, but guess what?! Here's chapter two! And it's longer than the first chapter! I really hope everyone enjoys it. College life has been really busy, but I managed to write this during my small amounts of free time. I hope school/work is going well for everybody! Also, who's excited for Season 2 of Supergirl? It's so close! I literally can't wait. Anyway, I hope you like this chapter and I'd like to hear what you think with all of your lovely reviews! Enjoy!

 **Disclaimer:** I still don't own the characters of Supergirl!

Chapter Two

"Argh," Kara groaned as she struggled to move. It seemed like everything was moving in slow motion. Her vision was blurring, her ears were ringing, and her head was spinning. Not to mention her calves felt like they were being impaled by a fire poker. Before closing her eyes, Kara tried blinking a few times in order to clear her foggy mind. Her blue eyes snapped back open in panic.

 _Oh my gosh, Michael! Is he okay? Please be okay!_ Kara thought as she wiggled on top of what she now realized must be Michael's body. It all came rushing back to her now. The gunshots followed by the pain in her legs. Michael being targeted with the red dot sight, which is when she had moved to tackle him as fast as her weakened body would allow. Lastly, the final gunshot that had rang out before all had went completely and utterly silent. _Please be alive. Please._

It was then that Kara realized something else. Her vision wasn't only blurry because of her disoriented and weakened state. She could feel a warm and sticky substance splattered on her face and it had gotten in her eyes. Kara's stomach rolled and she tried to take a deep breath to calm herself down. However, this proved to be a bad idea when the metallic smell of blood invaded her airways, causing Kara to nearly lose her lunch.

It wasn't the metallic smell of blood that made Kara feel sick, no. She had smelled blood way too many times for her to get sick by the smell alone. What made her so sick was the inescapable connection that the warm and sticky substance on her face must be blood and that blood must be Michael's.

Again, Kara struggled to lift herself up. Bringing up one of her shaking hands, she moved the hair out of her face and tried focusing on Michael's face. Kara gasped. Michael's eyes were closed and blood was running down the side of his head into a red pool on the ground. _NO…_ Tears came to her eyes and her heart plummeted. She could deal with the physical pain that was coming from her wounds, but the emotional pain that tore at her heart was overwhelming.

"I'm so sorry, Michael," Kara said as her voice shook.

The same distraught thoughts kept running through the hero's head over and over. _No… I was too late. I wasn't fast enough. I should have been faster!_ Kara squeezed her eyes shut for a second— the guilt and sadness consuming her. Opening her eyes again, she tried to move her legs a little and winced as the pain made her vision go black around the edges. Her hands flew down and gripped her leg tightly until the sharp, burning pain subsided back into an almost equally painful throb. Glancing down at her legs, she could see a faint green glow coming from each of her bullet wounds, confirming that it was definitely kryptonite bullets causing her weakened body and jumbled mind. Supergirl could also see a puddle of her own blood, which was growing at an alarming rate. Kara's body working to fend off the kryptonite invading her system combined with her current level of emotional distress was enough to cause her heart to beat faster than normal. And with her heart working in overtime, Kara was just losing blood that much faster.

As gently and gracefully as she could, Kara weakly rolled off of Michael's body and onto the ground beside him. She whimpered at first as her calves hit the ground, but after a few seconds the cool ground actually brought some relief to her wounds.

Loud, guilt-ridden thoughts swirled inside of her mind as tears streamed down her face. Her eyes searched the stars of the sky above her for some sort of guidance while she laid on her back. Kara mentally pushed as many negative thoughts away as she could so that she could think clearly. Slowly, the sounds of the city came back into focus as her ears began to stop ringing. _Think Kara. What do I do now? Alex! She'll know what to do. Call Alex…_

Kara's thoughts were interrupted and her eyes widened. She slowly turned her head back to face Michael as she listened to the sound that had captured her full attention. A sound that brought even more tears to Kara's eyes than before. A sound that seemed like music to her alien ears. A sound that gave National City's caped hero hope.

THUMP-THUMP… THUMP-THUMP…

 **Back at the DEO Headquarters…**

"Agent Vasquez, any sign of Supergirl yet?" Agent Alex Danvers asked while she continued searching for any possible National City news alerts.

"No, not yet. Last time she checked in was nearly an hour ago and I haven't been able to find anything out of the ordinary," Vasquez replied while she typed away trying to find some sort of lead on where Supergirl could have gone. She glanced over at Agent Danvers and could see the worry lines forming on her face as the minutes ticked by. "I'm sure we will hear from her any second now."

Alex looked up at Agent Vasquez and gave her a small smile. "I hope so," Alex replied. "I just can't help but feel like something is off."

"Supergirl is strong. Even if something did happen, I know she'll come out on top." Vasquez tried to share her faith in Supergirl with her worried fellow agent and friend.

Alex took a deep breath and nodded. "Thank you. I needed to hear that." And that was the truth. While Alex trusted her little sister with her life, she tended to forget that she was perfectly capable of protecting herself. Not that she doubted in Kara by any means! Alex believed in Supergirl with all of her heart and would stand by her until the very end. It was just that, in Alex's eyes, Kara would always be seen as her little sister and best friend. No matter how many bad guys Supergirl brought to justice or how many times she saved National City, Alex would always feel the constant need to protect Kara… To keep her safe. _And let's not forget how fast Kara will run into danger even if it is just to save a cute little puppy._ Alex couldn't help but smile at that thought and shook her head. Her sister truly did have a heart of a hero.

"I'm going to try contacting Supergirl again." Agent Danvers stated with a little more confidence than before while putting on her earpiece. Over the past hour, they hadn't been able to get through to Kara, which is another reason that Alex had begun to worry even more.

"Okay, let me send you through to her…" Vasquez said while she typed in a few commands. Before she could finish, an alert went off on her screen and started flashing red. She quickly clicked it on it and looked at the new information. "Agent Danvers, you're going to want to see this."

Alex looked up at the big screens in front of the control room as Vasquez pulled up what she was seeing. It was the highly sophisticated radar of National City created by the DEO to help out with tracking aliens and to keep up with any other signs of strange activity.

"Here, I'll go back within the last minute and show you exactly what I saw." Vasquez continued as she backed up the feed. Once she got it in place, she looked up and watched with Alex. Two red blips showed up on the radar simultaneously and then faded followed by a single red blip only a few seconds later. "I think those red blips are—," Agent Vasquez started to explain but Alex finished for her.

"Gunshots. And for this radar to pick up those shots so easily… It would have to be some sort of rifle with a higher caliber than your typical handgun."

"Right. So, if I track the exact location of the gun shots, we'll be able to compare their location to Supergirl's last known position," Vasquez said as she typed away a string of commands before hitting one final key. "Got it. The shots were fired just off of Washington Street on the west side of National City. Supergirl was only a couple of blocks away from this location when she checked in last."

Alex nodded. "That must be where she is. Good work, Agent Vasquez," Alex praised and clasped her shoulder softly. "Patch me through to her and let's see if we can get in touch with her this time."

"Agent Danvers. Agent Vasquez," Hank Henshaw greeted as he walked into the main control room. "I see you found a lead on Supergirl's location. Nice work."

"Thank you, sir." Alex replied. "Agent Vasquez was able to track the location of the shots fired and compared it to Supergirl's last known position. It all matches up."

"Alright, you heard Agent Danvers! Let's get moving people! We need to assemble our best task force immediately. We are heading out in two minutes, no later!"

The headquarters became a busy place as everyone hurried to carry out Hank's orders. Hank could see the worry in Alex's eyes and he had to admit… He was a little concerned too. While everybody was too busy to notice, he walked over to Alex and reached his hand out, giving her arm a soft, caring squeeze. "Your sister is okay, Alex. I promise."

"Thank you, J'onn." Alex said softly, squeezing his arm back. She was thankful to have such a caring father figure like J'onn J'onzz. "Let's go find Supergirl."

On the other side of the room, Vasquez had made a shocking discovery. "What the..?" She couldn't believe what she just saw. Alex and J'onn looked over at Agent Vasquez and then made their way to her side.

"What are you seeing, Agent?" Hank asked as he crossed his arms.

"Sir, you're already aware of how we weren't able to reach Supergirl's comm for the past hour. Well, it appears that some sort of signal jammer was bouncing the signal. I barely caught it when whoever was using it turned it off. There was a slight… _tremor_ when it shut down and I was barely able to look into it before I got kicked out. All traces of it has totally disappeared."

As soon as Vasquez got done explaining what she saw, alerts began to pop up that shots had been reported in that area. The police were being dispatched to the location. "We need to beat the cops there. We're moving out, agents!" Hank called out as he turned and made his way to the DEO garage. "Vasquez, figure out everything you can on that signal jammer and keep a look out for anything else unusual while we go figure out what's going on."

"Yes sir. Oh, Agent Danvers, you are connected with Supergirl now." Vasquez replied as she got to work on figuring out anything that she could.

Alex put her hand up to ear as they walked out to one of the black SUVs. "Supergirl? Are you there?" Alex tried. Hank looked over at her and then made a few hand gestures to the agents that followed. The agents changed course to a second black SUV and loaded up, making J'onn and Alex have a vehicle to themselves. J'onn knew that Alex would need to talk to Kara not as Supergirl, but as her sister.

J'onn nodded for Alex to get in the passenger seat while he took the driver's seat. They both got in the car and buckled up. "Kara? It's Alex. Can you hear me?" Alex tried again as they made their way to Washington Street at a very fast pace with their back up following close behind. _C'mon, Kara. Please Answer._

"Alex..," Came Kara's soft reply. Alex let out a breath she hadn't even realized she'd been holding. _Thank goodness,_ Alex thought.

"I'm here. We are on our way to your location. You are close to Washington Street, right?"

It took a minute for Kara to respond and Alex could hear her moving around trying to do something. "Um… Yes. I'm in an alley right off of the street."

"Okay, Kara. We will be there in five minutes." Alex said as she felt the car speed up.

 **Back at the alley…**

Kara was trying to scoot up to Michael. She ignored all the blood that was getting on her because between the two of them there wasn't any way to avoid it. Kara felt like it was taking her forever to move up to Michael so that she could try to care for his head wound. She just feels so weak and her legs are on fire. Kara closed her eyes for a second, trying to get her head to stop spinning. _Pull it together, Kara. C'mon. You can't get through to Alex and you have to do something. Michael needs your help._ She opened her eyes again, determined to help Michael as much as possible. After carefully scooting up closer to Michael, she then moved into a sitting position.

"Supergirl? Are you there?"

Kara jumped at the sound of her sister's voice in her ear. _ALEX!_ Pain erupted in both her calves from how she had jumped. She bit her lip until the pain became somewhat bearable so she wouldn't make a sound that would worry Alex.

"Kara? It's Alex. Can you hear me?" Alex's voice sounded more worried this time and Kara could hear the sound of a car cranking.

"Alex…" Kara replied a little softer than normal, trying to keep the pain out of her voice. She was so relieved to hear her sister's voice.

"I'm here. We are on our way to your location. You are close to Washington Street, right?"

While she was listening to her sister's voice, Kara had moved again and was looking down at Michael. She squinted her eyes and tried to use her x-ray vision to examine his wound. But it was no use. The kryptonite was circulating in her blood—she could feel it. Kara could also feel her temperature start to rise as her body desperately tried to fight off the toxic mineral.

"Um… Yes. I'm in an alley right off of the street." Kara finally answered. In the back of her mind, she wondered how Alex knew that, but she didn't really care. She was just glad Alex was on her way.

"Okay, Kara. We will be there in five minutes."

Kara nodded, forgetting Alex couldn't see her. She moved a little and reached her hands up to each of her shoulders. She unclasped her cape and took it off. Kara folded part of it and placed it under Michael's head as carefully as she could. _Hold on, Michael. Help is coming._ She gently used the rest of her cape to apply some pressure to his wound. Kara felt guilty when she wondered how Michael was still alive.

While she hadn't been fast enough to keep Michael unscathed, she had been fast enough to keep the shot from being fatal. The bullet had struck more to the right than the attacker had probably hoped. She just hoped that Michael would be okay. She needed him to be okay. Kara knew that head injuries were tricky and part of Kara was still angry at herself for not being fast enough. _At least he's still alive. That's all that matters,_ Kara thought. The pain in her chest had let up tremendously since she had heard Michael's slow heartbeat, letting her know that he was still hanging in there. _Just a little bit longer and you will be in good hands._

Sirens began to sound in the distance and Kara hoped Alex and the rest of her task force made it here before the police.

"Kara? Talk to me. Are you okay?" Alex asked and Kara knew her sister must be sick with worry. Kara didn't want to lie to her sister about her injuries and she figured she would find out soon enough, so she decided to tell Alex about everything that happened.

She relayed the whole story of what had happened while Alex listened silently. Alex could hear the pain and guilt in Kara's voice as she told her everything. She knew that Kara was blaming herself for something.

"And then… just out of nowhere, two shots were fired," Kara explained to Alex, while a few tears escaped her eyes. "Alex, my legs… they hurt so much. But Michael, he needs help. When I fell to the ground, I wasn't fast enough to keep him from getting shot. He has a major head wound, but he's still hanging in there."

"We have the medical team with us, Michael will be okay. Now, please tell me about your legs…"

"Just hurry up and get here, Alex! I'm really worried about Michael and that's all that matters. He needs medical attention. He's lost a lot of blood and hasn't moved or anything since all this happened. And I can't see what's wrong because my x-ray vision isn't working and I can't do anything but SIT HERE!" Kara started to get louder and louder as her frustration with herself and her current injuries grew.

"Whoa, Kar. It's okay," Alex soothed. "Everything is okay."

Before Kara could respond, she saw the DEO's black SUVs pull up. Alex and Hank got out of the leading vehicle and rushed over to Kara and Michael, followed by the rest of the agents. The task force was on high alert as they swept the area for any possible threats.

Kara began to relax now that her sister and J'onn had arrived, which is when she noticed how dizzy she was. Looking at J'onn, Kara said, "That building behind you, that's where the shooter must have been positioned."

Hank nodded and began to shout orders for part of the task force to search the building and to establish a perimeter around the alley. No cops were allowed past until they were done here. Kara moved a little as two medics knelt beside her and started to work on Michael. _Stay strong, friend. You'll be better in no time._ She watched as they gently put Michael on a stretcher and hauled him away while still talking their medical lingo. Funny, Kara was finding it harder and harder to concentrate.

"Supergirl, thank goodness you're okay." Alex said as she knelt down and gave Kara a huge hug. Kara hugged her back and the two sisters stayed like that for a while until Alex spoke again. "C'mon, you need some medical attention ASAP. Can you walk?" Alex asked as she looked into her sister's eyes. She moved her hand up and began to gently wipe the blood from Kara's face.

"I think, maybe." Kara answered, but she wasn't really sure. Alex moved beside her and gently wrapped Kara's arm around her neck. Hank rushed over and copied Alex on Supergirl's free side. As they slowly stood up, Kara's world started to spin even worse than before. She tried to put weight on her legs to stand up, hoping to steady her world.

"Agh!" Kara gasped as her legs once again lit up with searing pain. She stumbled and fell into Alex, her legs unable to support her weight. Alex wrapped her arms around Supergirl and held on to her tight so that she wouldn't fall.

"Whoa, I've got you. I've got you." Alex reassured Kara. Alex looked down at Kara's legs and her eyes widened while her stomach sank. She hadn't realized how bad Kara's legs were. Alex also started to feel anger at whoever hurt her sister. "Why didn't you tell me how bad your legs are?" Alex asked sternly. "If you weren't hurt, I could just slap you right now."

This caused Kara to laugh softly and Alex smiled as they started to make their way to the SUV. "I was just worried more about Michael," Kara said and then mentally added, _And I didn't want you to worry any more than you already were._ Kara held on to Alex tight and tried to put weight on her legs again, but she wasn't able to without the same excruciating pain coming back. Kara groaned.

Alex sighed and kept Kara from trying to put weight on her legs again. "Stop being stubborn," she ordered.

"When hell freezes over," Hank grumbled. Kara missed it, but it made Alex smirk. They both knew Kara would always be stubborn. Silently, Hank and Alex both carried Kara the rest of the way to the SUV. They sat her down in the back seat with her back to the far door and legs laid across the seats rather than hanging down. Alex got in and very gently placed Kara's feet in her lap. Kara had to bite her lip again at the pain and laid her head back against the cool window. She closed her eyes and took a deep breath.

Alex started to very gently work on taking Kara's red boots off while Hank got in the front seat and started to drive quickly back to headquarters. Once Supergirl's boots were off, Alex took her leather jacket off and began to tie it around both of Kara's calves. "Kara? I'm going to pull this tight to staunch some of your bleeding, okay?" Alex could tell she had lost a lot of blood by the paleness that had settled over Kara's face. Kara nodded and held her breath while clenching her fists. "On three. One… Two." Alex pulled the knot tight on the count of two and Kara yelled out in pain. Alex flinched at her sister's cry of pain.

Breathing hard, Kara opened her eyes and glared at Alex. "That… wasn't on three." Kara said in between breaths. Alex reached for Kara's hand and held it tightly. Against her wishes, Kara's glare turned into a small smile and she squeezed her sister's hand softly.

Alex smiled back. "I know."

While the three made their way back to headquarters, they all thought about the events that had unfolded. So much had happened and it was obvious that whoever they were dealing with, knew what they were doing. Who had shot Kara and Michael? How did they know how to hurt Supergirl? Why were they trying to take out Michael? There was definitely something sinister going on and they were all going to have to work together to get to the bottom of it. Together, nothing can stand in their way.


	3. Chapter 3

**AN: First of all, I want to thank all of you for your patience! I know waiting for an update is extremely hard, but life has been crazy and I've had literally no time to write. I promise I will try to be more frequent in updating. Thanks to all those that have reviewed, favorited, followed, or read this story. It means so much and I really hope you enjoy this chapter! I hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas! Happy Reading and let me know what you think! :)**

 **Disclaimer: None of the characters from Supergirl are mine!**

 **Chapter 3**

Slowly, Kara became aware of a soft humming noise and warmth as she began to wake up. She could also feel somebody holding her hand and hear their soft breathing. Kara instantly recognized it to be Alex. Just to double check that it was Alex sitting there and maybe for a little comfort, Kara used her super hearing to listen to Alex's steady heartbeat. It was familiar. Alive. Safe. It felt like home to Kara. It had ever since she had landed on Earth, barely escaping Krypton's final moments.

The light of the sunbed that mimicked Earth's yellow sun washed over the length of Kara's body as she lay there. The rays slowly but surely regenerating her weakened Kryptonian cells, which allowed her legs to heal. Kara softly squeezed Alex's hand while she kept her eyes closed for just a bit longer.

"Kara?" Alex asked as she immediately sat up in her chair and squeezed Kara's hand back lovingly. As Alex began to look her sister over, she was beyond relieved to see that the unsettling paleness that had creeped over Kara had disappeared. The effects of the Kryptonite combined with the blood loss had sucked away her sister's healthy complexion and replaced it with a sickly white color. Alex pursed her lips and felt very grateful for Kara's healing abilities.

"Mmph," came Kara's groggy reply. Alex's concerned expression began to fade as she smiled.

"Morning, Kar." Alex said as she moved her other hand up to her sister's face, brushing a few stray hairs out of her face and tucking it behind her ear. "How are you feeling?"

Kara began to move a little and her eyes fluttered as she tried to wake up more. She tried to remember how exactly she ended up in the sunbed at the DEO. After moving a little more, she felt an ache in both of her calves and finally everything started to come back to her in flashes.

 _Michael holding the innocent woman at gunpoint…_

 _The woman running to safety after Michael yelled at her to go…_

 _Michael handing the gun over…_

 _The flash of pain that had ignited in her legs…_

 _The despair she felt when she saw the red dot on Michael's forehead…_

 _The crippling guilt that she felt because she wasn't fast enough to save Michael._

 _The overwhelming relief when she realized Michael was still alive…_

 _Alex and Hank showing up…_

Kara opened her eyes and looked over at her sister when the memory flashes ended. Alex was smiling, but she could still see the concern that gripped her. Kara moved her hand up to her sister's cheek. "Hey, I'm okay."

Alex smiled a little more and Kara saw some of the worry leave her sister's features. Kara gently tucked her sister's hair behind her ear. "Besides, there was this totally awesome agent that came to Supergirl's rescue." Kara started to smile as she felt Alex begin to relax. "Kinda like Supergirl's very own guardian angel."

Alex laughed and Kara joined her. "Is that right? Well, I must meet this guardian angel because she sounds like one heck of an agent. I bet she's a real beauty too."

Kara made a face. "Well, she's alright I guess… Hey!" Alex slapped at Kara's hand that had been on her cheek. They both laughed and everything began to feel a lot more relaxed. Still holding onto each other's hand, they sat there in silence for a few minutes as they both thought over the events that occurred the night before.

Kara's heart clenched as she looked up into her sister's eyes. "Alex, are you okay? And Michael… How is he? Is he okay?"

Alex looked back at Kara and could see so many emotions flash across her face. Fear. Guilt. Pain. Worry. Hope. Alex sighed. "I'm okay other than being worried about you and Michael is okay too. He's actually just down the hall from us now. But Kara… He's in a medically induced coma. His brain began to swell from the impact of the bullet…"

 _No, I should have been faster. He's hurt because of me._ Kara couldn't help but think as she sighed and tried to fight the overwhelming weight of guilt that seemed to settle on her shoulders. Alex saw how her sister stiffened. "Kar, none of this is your fault. Please don't feel that way, okay? If anything, you saved him. Look at me." Alex waited until Kara's blue eyes looked into her own brown eyes. "You not only saved him from murdering an innocent woman, but you also saved him from killing himself. Oh, and by the way, you then got shot with TWO Kryptonite bullets and then saved him AGAIN by knocking him down."

Tears started to shine in Kara's eyes, which only made them look even bluer than before. "Alex…"

Alex cut her off. "No. You are a hero, Kara. You are Supergirl and I'm so proud of you. I know how hard it is to handle situations like last night and you did amazing. You're my hero, Supergirl." Alex wiped Kara's tears away and smiled. "Michael is going to heal in no time and he will continue to live because you saved him. We are going to figure out what happened to his daughter and we are going to work on shutting down Cadmus. Everything will be okay."

Kara nodded her head and smiled with Alex. "You're my hero and guardian angel too."

"Well, of course I am." They both laughed. "Just do me a favor and avoid any and all Kryptonite bullets. And anything else that might hurt you and cause me to get sick with worry. I love you too much to see you hurt like that."

"I promise I'll try, but you have to promise me the same thing." Kara said as she began to stretch her legs. A slight ache came from her mending wounds but other than that she felt way better than she did last night.

"I promise. Besides, you're the one who has the middle name Trouble." Alex said jokingly.

"Hey!" Kara poked Alex's chest. "We both attract trouble like a magnet with metal. Besides my name is Kara Zor-El not Troub—"

"Exactly," Alex fired back. "I'm pretty sure "Zor-El" is Kryptonese for trouble."

Kara shook her head and just laughed at her sister. "Yeah, yeah. But seriously, Alex. I promise to be careful, okay?"

"Okay, me too." Alex smiled and kissed Kara's hand that she was still holding. "Well, how about you absorb a little more yellow sun and then we can go check on Michael this morning."

"Morning?!" Kara shouted in shock. She rushed to get up and Alex only saw a blur of red and blue until Kara disgracefully banged her head on the sunlamp. "Ouch!"

"Easy there, Superg—"

"What time is it?!" Kara interrupted, rubbing her head a little embarrassedly.

Alex looked at her watch. "It's eight, forty-five." Alex watched as Kara began to rush around in a full blown panic.

"No, no, no. Ms. Grant is going to kill me! NO! Even worse, she's going to fire me and then hire some assistant that doesn't have a clue what she's doing! I'm so dead. Or fired! Whatever!"

Alex couldn't help but laugh as she watched her sister rant and clumsily try to take off her suit and clean up the dried blood before changing into some extra clothes they had left here. It was a pretty yellow dress that always looked so perfect on Kara. Alex continued to watch as her sister became a blur as she used her super speed to finish and then put up her hair. She stopped using super speed as she slid on her glasses.

"Wow. Ms. Grant causes Supergirl more fear and panic than any villain or alien ever could. Interesting."

After rolling her eyes, Kara began to walk towards Alex. Alex saw the slightly stiff gait that Kara had. Nothing too obvious, but she could tell that her sister was sore.

Kara rolled her eyes again. "I'm okay. Just a little sore, so it's nothing for you to worry about. Let's go see Michael and then I can get to Cat Co."

"Maybe you should just take the day off? Let me make sure that your legs are healing properly?" Alex hoped her sister would, but she knew that she was far too stubborn.

"Alex, no. Now, I would like to make it back to Cat Co. before I am officially jobless. So, please show me where Michael is staying."

Alex sighed and nodded her head for Kara to follow. She opened the door and walked down the hallway of the infirmary sector of the DEO until she got to Michael's room. She placed her hand on the sensor and let it scan. "This will only open for you, me, Hank, and Dr. Hamilton." The door opened and she moved to the side. "I'll leave you to it, unless you need to me to stay. Take it easy at work today, Kar. Oh, and stay out of trouble, will ya?"

"You too, Alex. Thank you for everything." Kara moved and hugged her sister before stepping back. She looked into Alex's eyes and smiled before going in to see Michael. Alex lingered in the hall for a few minutes, making sure Kara was okay before going to find Hank. She had a lot of work to do if they were going to make any kind of head way on this strange case.

Kara slowly walked up to Michael. His head was wrapped in bandages and he was hooked up to a number of complicated machines. Seeing Michael alive, even if he is injured, made the guilt and pain Kara had been feeling lessen.

"I'm glad you're okay, Michael. I'm sorry that I wasn't quick enough to keep you from injury, but I'm grateful that you are still alive." Kara paused as she thought about everything that had happened. "If you can hear me…" Kara felt a little nervous as she talked to a man who was in a coma. She nervously adjusted her glasses with her hand. "If you can hear me, then I promise I will do everything in my power to figure out what happened with you and your daughter."

BEEP-BEEP

Kara jumped. She looked at the heart monitor and saw that Michael's heart rate increased as she said that. She then looked back at Michael, shocked. "You can hear me."

The heart monitor affirmed what she suspected by beeping faster again. Kara moved closer and took Michael's hand in hers. "I promise you, Michael. You have my word." The heart monitor readings remained consistent as Kara watched for the changes like before. Smiling, she hoped that Michael was getting some peaceful rest in order for his body to heal as fast as possible.

After gently squeezing his hand, Kara turned and made her way out of the DEO. When she began to fly her way back to Cat Co, she closed her eyes and took a deep breath. She opened her eyes again and smiled big as she looked over National City. Her city to protect and guard with all that she had. _Alex was right. Everything is going to be okay,_ Kara thought. However, thanks to Kara's super hearing, her smile faltered when she heard an unmistakably familiar and obviously unhappy voice—the voice of Cat Grant.

"Keira!"

 _Uh-oh._ Kara grimaced as she flew even faster to Cat Co.'s roof and landed. She hurried to fix her dress and made sure she hadn't been seen before going over to the roof entrance. Adjusting her glasses one last time, she opened the door and made her way down to Ms. Grant's office. As she heard Ms. Grant calling her "name" over and over while also getting louder and louder, Kara couldn't help but smile again as she thought. _This looks like a job for Kara Danvers._

 **To Be Continued…**


	4. Chapter 4

**AN: Hi everyone! Here's a new update. It's the longest chapter yet and I hope you enjoy it! Thanks for giving my story a chance! Also, I know Christmas is over, but I had the next couple chapters already planned out in my head, so they still involve Christmas. Happy Reading and let me know what you think!**

 **Disclaimer: Supergirl belongs to DC and the CW.**

 **Chapter Four**

"Keira!" Cat Grant shouted for the millionth time that morning. It was nearly nine o'clock and her assistant had yet to show up for work. Cat could see the fearful glances that were being cast into her office by the rest of her employees and it almost amused her. Almost.

Cat continued to pace back and forth in front of her desk as she furiously cleaned her glasses. It was Christmas Eve morning and everything was moving too slow for her liking. CatCo was already running behind in more ways than one today and if her employees didn't start to get their priorities in order then she was about to fix that for them. _It's simple, really._ Cat thought. _If they don't get their work done here first, then their new top priority will be finding a new job._ Cat huffed as she finished cleaning her glasses and set them back on her desk.

Cat looked back up to see her assistant clumsily making her way over in a panicked rush. Her eyes narrowed as Kara entered her office. "Where have you been? I understand that it is Christmas Eve and nobody here wants to be working, but that's life."

Kara's eyes widened a little, having forgotten that today was indeed Christmas Eve with all that had happened the night before. _I'll have to check with Alex to make sure that everything is still on for tonight._ Cat's angry tone interrupted Kara's thoughts, obviously not pleased with her assistant's silence.

"I've been calling your name since exactly eight-oh-one this morning. I have yet to see my morning latte, which I would gladly take the usual cold ones that you bring rather than nothing at all." Cat and Kara's eyes met. Both of them knew that the lattes were never cold, thanks to Kara's heat vision, but the look Cat gave Kara dared her to say otherwise. Kara decided it was best just to leave it. "And, oh, you don't happen to see any proofs on my desk by any chance do you, Keira?" Cat said as she put her hands on her hips and glared at her assistant.

"Um, no?" Kara looked over at Cat's desk and then back at her boss. "I mean… No, no I don't see any proofs, Ms. Grant. I'll get right on it. I'm really sorr—"

"Oh, don't bother." Cat waved her hand dismissively. "You are going to be sorry enough when I send you to pack your things up in a pathetic, cliché cardboard box. Now, tell me. What could be more important than being on time this morning? Christmas Eve is one of the busiest days for CatCo, not including the days where Supergirl is flying about saving National City, and I expect my employees to be here doing their job ON TIME."

Kara couldn't help but fidget and adjust her glasses out of nervousness. Her mind raced as she tried to come up with a story other than the truth. Kara hated having to lie to Ms. Grant, but she didn't want her secret of being Supergirl to endanger Cat any further than the business relationship with Supergirl already did. Besides, Cat seemed to have enough enemies of her own simply due to the amount of power she held in National City with CatCo.

Seeing her boss start to tap her high heeled shoe on the ground impatiently, Kara desperately tried to buy herself some time until she thought of something good. "I-I was just… I mean, it's a long story," Kara laughed nervously.

"She overslept," James said rather matter of factly as he entered Cat's office, carrying what Kara could only hope were the proofs that she had somewhat helped prepare the day before. "She stayed up late last night finishing these up for you." Cat took the proofs and laid them on her desk. She narrowed her eyes again at both James and Kara before putting on her glasses and looking over the proofs.

James and Kara stole a glance at each other as they waited for Cat to finish looking over the proofs. James winked and silently mouthed, "You owe me."

Kara had to look down to keep from laughing at her friend. Honestly, she hoped she did owe James because that would mean she gets to keep her job here at CatCo.

"Keira? Although I'm beyond frustrated with your absence this morning, this layout is very well done. Do you remember what I told you about not taking credit when you do something well?"

"Yes, Ms. Grant. You said that I'll be on the 'bottom of the pile' forever if I don't take credit for the things I do well." Kara remembered it like it was yesterday. Ms. Grant had said that when James had conveniently saved her the first time with the first ever, clean shot of Supergirl stopping a bank robbery. "I had planned to be here on time to show you this morning, but I… overslept, _apparently_." Kara snuck a quick glare at James for that particular cover story and then she started to ramble as her nerves took over. "Because of, you know, helping James with this layout and umm… last minute Christmas shopping."

"Enough rambling. James, get this to printing now." Cat ordered as she handed James the proofs. After James left, Cat walked back around her desk and sat down. Kara moved to the front of Cat's desk, waiting for her next orders. "Keira, your job is safe for now. Fetch me a lettuce wrap and a hot latte. I'm going to need a fair amount of sustenance to make it through the day."

"Of course, Ms. Grant. I'll be back shortly." Kara turned to leave, but not before catching a glance of the expression on Cat's face. It was a mixture of things, most noticeably anger and frustration, but Kara had learned how to read her boss—her mentor. Under it all, Cat's eyes held exhaustion and pain. But why?

After deciding that it would be faster flying to get Cat's order, Kara made her way towards the roof. Kara was in such deep thought about what could be bothering Cat that she didn't notice Winn step in front of her until she almost ran into him.

"Whoa, Kara! Hi there. I'm glad to see you escaped the wrath of our boss today," Winn said as he placed his hands on Kara's shoulders to steady her.

"Oh hi, Winn. Sorry, I was just thinking…"

"Alex told me!" Winn said excitedly. He always loved to hear about Supergirl's latest adventures. He lowered his voice as they walked together to the stairs leading to the roof. "Which by the way, could ya try not to destroy your suit every time you get into a fight?"

Kara couldn't help but laugh. "I'm just doing my job, Winn. I can't help that my suit doesn't regenerate like I do."

Winn stopped walking. "Kara… you're a genius. This-this is great!" He pulled her into the stairway. "I'll have to look into upgrading your suit. Maybe I can come up with something that would…" Winn trailed off noticing the amused look on his friend's face. "What?"

"You're such a nerd, Winn." They both laughed. "But I love you for it. Hey, while you're at it, how about looking into something that will protect me from Kryptonite?"

"Right, that's way more important," Winn said while he scratched his head in thought. "How are your legs by the way? I'm glad you're okay."

"They're sore, but nothing I can't handle." Kara said, her stubborn expression not showing any signs of weakness. "So, I assume Alex filled you in on everything that happened?"

"Yeah, she did. Actually, she wants me to head over to the DEO to fix your suit. Do you think you could fly me over there?" Winn asked. "I mean what happens if National City needs its hero?"

Kara actually hadn't thought about that earlier. She mentally chastised herself for being so careless. If something had happened, she wouldn't have had her suit to disguise herself. Pushing her thoughts aside, she looked over at Winn as they made it to the roof. He was still waiting for her response. Kara couldn't help but smile mischievously.

Winn made an "oomph" noise followed by a surprised scream as Kara tackled him and then flew straight up into the clouds. Kara laughed the entire way as Winn tried to regain his composure. His heart was beating rapidly. "Yeah, I think I can fly you to the DEO."

"Ha-ha, yeah. Thanks for that, Supergirl. I nearly had a heart attack."

 **Meanwhile, Back at DEO Headquarters…**

Alex ran her hand through her hair in frustration. They had been working to gather any information from the events that had occurred last night, but there wasn't anything to be gathered. Michael's blood work had been sent to the lab for further analyzation, so maybe that would show something.

Sighing, Alex leaned back in her chair. Agent Vasquez looked over at her and smiled a small smile. She was also feeling the irritation from the lack of progress.

"Don't worry, ladies. Something will turn up soon," Hank said as he placed one hand on Alex's shoulder and the other on Vasquez's.

Vasquez nodded her head. "Right, we just have to keep digging. Cadmus is smart, but they aren't that smart. They'll slip up eventually."

Alex smiled gratefully at the other agent's optimism, but she was still worried. She had a gut feeling that there was a lot more behind the story of what happened with Michael and his daughter. It was just hard to make any headway on that until Michael woke up.

"I'm just worried on what their next move is. I mean, they obviously have Kryptonite and we are very aware of their dislike towards Supergirl and Superman." Alex said and she felt her chest tighten. She hated the thought of Kara getting hurt or worse. She was her little sister and she wanted to protect her. To keep her safe.

"I can't imagine that Cadmus is too happy about how things went last night. I'm sure they know that Supergirl was able to save Michael. They are probably more concerned with eliminating him than they are going after Supergirl at the moment," Hank countered. He knew how much Alex worried about Kara every day and he shared that worry—for both Alex and Kara. They were like daughters to Hank.

Alex sighed. "You're right. I just can't help but worry."

"Hey, like I said before, Supergirl is strong. She is far more than just capable of protecting herself and the city." Vasquez reassured. Alex gave her a grateful smile and relaxed a little. Vasquez continued, "As far as our efforts on this case, I think Michael is going to be key here. Whatever he knows about the test they ran on his daughter and anything else is all we have right now."

Both Hank and Alex nodded their heads in agreement. "Nothing ever came back up from the signal jammer?" Alex asked hopefully.

Vasquez shook her head. "I looked everywhere, but there was nothing to trace. Assuming that Cadmus is behind all of this, I think it's safe to say that Cadmus was fully expecting Supergirl to intervene on the situation with Michael."

"To test her?" Alex asked curiously.

Hank shook his head. "I'd say it was more of a precaution. If they wanted to test Supergirl, they would have done it differently."

Before anyone could say anything else, Dr. Hamilton walked into the main room and over to everybody. "I've found something that you might be interested in." Alex and Vasquez stood up to look at the folder that Dr. Hamilton held up. Alex took it and opened it while Hank and Vasquez looked over her shoulder.

"Michael's blood test came back," Dr. Hamilton continued. "There's signs that he was being tested on too. For what, I'm not sure, but the traces of foreign substances that I found in his blood indicate that it's not from a human or earthly origin."

"What's not of a human or earthly origin?" Kara asked as she and Winn walked in.

Alex caught Kara and Winn up on everything that Dr. Hamilton had said and then about the lack of progress they had made otherwise. Alex looked back at the Doctor. "So, it's alien?"

Dr. Hamilton nodded. "I'll look more into what exactly it could be, but whatever it was tried to fight Michael's cells. Actually, some of Michael's cells were engulfed by the invading foreign cells and took over." The group frowned at this. "However, Michael's body fought back and the cells that were 'turning' were dying. Perhaps, Cadmus was trying to find a way to genetically enhance him with some kind of alien DNA?"

Alex and Kara both cringed when their thoughts went to Jeremiah being tested on and… maybe even _changed._ Kara took Alex's hand and squeezed. "We'll find him Alex." Kara could see the pain in her sister's eyes, but she could also see the pain lessen as she held her sister's hand.

Then it hit Kara. _That smell! That awful smell coming from Michael that had been under all of the alcohol stench._ Kara had assumed that it was some type of drug, but now that she knew Michael had been tested on… Kara looked at Dr. Hamilton. "I smelled this awful smell coming from Michael last night. Could that be what I was smelling?"

Dr. Hamilton thought for a minute. "It's possible. I would assume that the smell would be stronger if the foreign cells had been injected into the host recently, causing the body to have a defensive reaction to prevent the foreign cells from invading. Maybe that was what you were smelling." Dr. Hamilton's eyes widened as she came to some sort of realization.

Realization dawned on Hank. Vasquez and Alex seemed to make the same conclusion. Winn saw the looks on all of their faces. "Are you all thinking that maybe Cadmus is trying to create weapons in the form of genetically enhanced humans using alien DNA?"

Everybody nodded and Kara just shook her head. She felt a sudden rush of anger seize her mind and body. _I will stop them if it's the last thing that I do._ Kara could feel the anger building with the thoughts of innocent people or even children getting experimented on. Closing her eyes, she took a deep breath and relaxed herself. Slowly, she felt the anger melt away into the back of her mind. Her fist that she had unknowingly clenched relaxed until they rested at her sides again.

"Listen, I think we have all done what we can do for now," J'onn said. "Dr. Hamilton why don't you run a few more tests then go home and enjoy Christmas with your family. We can pick this up in a few days."

"Yes sir. I'll take home the reports on his blood and see if I find anything new as well. Thank you sir and have a Merry Christmas." Dr. Hamilton smiled and began to walk off. She stopped suddenly and turned back around. "Oh, Supergirl, you might need this. I cleaned it after I found it wrapped around Michael's head wounds."

Kara saw her red cape as Dr. Hamilton handed it to her. She couldn't help but smile. "Thank you, Doctor," Kara replied as she took her cape and watched as the doctor walked back to her lab.

"Winn, you go patch up Supergirl's suit just in case the need for it arises," J'onn ordered. "Then you are free to go. Kara, Vasquez, Alex… Go get some rest. There's nothing more we can do here right now. Enjoy your Christmas and we will get back to work afterwards. I'll stick around to keep the place running with the rest of the DEO on-duty agents. I'll let you know if anything happens."

Alex and Kara hugged J'onn. They didn't argue with him because they knew he wasn't one for holidays. Soon after that, everyone said their byes and gathered up their stuff. Winn returned Kara's suit after he was finished putting it back together. Vasquez left first to go home to some of her family while Winn caught a ride back into the city. Now, Kara and Alex were walking out of the DEO together talking about their Christmas plans for the night.

The plan was similar to Thanksgiving. Eliza would come over to Kara's house and cook. Of course, Winn would be joining in as well. On the other hand, James and Lucy would be spending Christmas elsewhere. Kara was a little thankful because that meant it would just be her, Alex, Eliza, and Winn.

"I've gotta rush back to CatCo and deliver Ms. Grant a lettuce wrap and a latte, so I'll have to catch you later, Alex." Kara said as she gave her sister a hug.

"Okay, I'll see you tonight. Just hurry home as fast as you can… I know Mom is going to be hounding me for answers on why you don't have a boyfriend and why I don't do a better a job at keeping you from danger."

Kara laughed. Alex was always terrified of holidays with Eliza. Granted, Eliza was always hard on Alex. Maybe even a little too hard. Although, recently, Kara had been on the receiving end of more and more of Eliza's tirades ever since last year's holidays. It wasn't too bad, it just took some getting used to.

"I promise that I will hurry. See you soon, Alex!" Kara said as she flew up into the clouds. Alex watched while she smiled and shook her head. _If Mom found out I was letting Kara fly around without her suit, I would be a dead woman._

 **Later that night at CatCo…**

Cat had been on a roll the whole day. She managed to fire a couple of newly hired reporters while also yelling at more than half of her employees. Kara knew that something was off with Cat, but she wasn't sure what it was. Most of the employees had left since, technically, the work day was over. However, Kara had decided to stay behind.

Kara tended to stay after work a lot these days. Well, as long as Supergirl wasn't needed elsewhere. She liked to get to talk to Cat at the end of the day and today she knew that Cat needed her to stay. Kara decided to text Alex and let her know that she would be running a few minutes late.

Kara: Hey! I'm gonna be running a few minutes late. Please don't kill me! Love you XOXO

Her cellphone almost buzzed immediately with a desperate text back from Alex.

Alex: NOOO. Please save me. Get here ASAP. Mom is out for blood, I swear.

Kara: XOXO

Alex: I'm going to kill you!

Alex: Right after mom leaves!

Kara couldn't help but laugh. It amazed her how much Alex was fazed by Eliza when it came to holidays. Kara put her phone down and looked up into Cat's office.

Cat was sitting at her desk rubbing her temples while holding a picture frame that always sat on her desk. _That picture is of her with Carter and Adam. I remember taking it for her when Adam had visited a while ago,_ Kara thought. Then, she watched as Cat put the frame back on the desk and got up. She walked outside on her balcony with a glass of whiskey in hand.

After Kara retrieved some Advil and a bottle of water from her desk, she walked to Cat's office. She looked over at the picture of Cat and her two sons. They all looked so happy in that picture. Kara's gaze lingered on Adam, her heart fluttering a little. _I miss him,_ Kara caught herself thinking. After pushing her thoughts about Adam to the back of her mind, she looked back up and continued walking outside to where Cat was leaning against the railing of her balcony.

"Ms. Grant? May I?" Kara asked softly. For a while, Cat didn't answer as she looked over the city. Kara was just about to move forward anyway until she saw the smallest nod from Cat. Smiling, Kara stepped forward and leaned against the railing with her. "I brought you this, Ms. Grant. I figured you could use it." Kara said as she offered the Advil and water bottle to Cat.

Cat's eyes finally looked over at Kara and the pain that radiated from Cat was no longer hidden under a mask of anger. It was just pain. Sadness. Silently, Kara handed her boss the Advil and water bottle while she held the whiskey glass. Cat took the medicine and thanked Kara softly. They stayed that way for a while—standing in comfortable silence as they both looked over National City. Kara wasn't sure what to say to Cat, but she was trying to think of something.

Cat sighed, breaking Kara from her thoughts. "Carter is with his dad and his dad's newest girlfriend this Christmas." Kara's heart broke for Cat. She knew how much Carter meant to Cat. Carter's dad had never been nice or responsible when it came to caring for Carter, so Kara didn't understand why Carter had to stay there for Christmas. "Usually," Cat continued. "We alternate. Carter is with me one Christmas and then with his dad the next. But, for the past five years, his dad didn't want to spend Christmas with him. This year, for whatever reason, he decided it was his turn."

Kara looked over at Cat as she talked. Cat's green eyes were glassy and the fact that she was opening up to her meant a lot to Kara. "I'm so sorry, Ms. Grant. I know Carter misses you very much."

Cat nodded and smiled a little as she wiped at her eyes. She then turned to Kara and looked her over before saying, "Enough about me. Don't you have somewhere to be? With your sister and… Foster parents, is it?"

Kara adjusted her glasses and nodded her head. "Just my foster mom, Eliza. And Alex too." For a moment, Kara couldn't help but feel the familiar tug at her heart. She missed her parents. She missed Krypton. There wasn't a day that went by that she didn't think about them, but Kara was very grateful for Eliza and Jeremiah for taking her in. She loved them like her own parents. And Alex… She was more than just her sister. Alex was her best friend and Kara could never thank Alex enough for all that she has done through the years.

"I see," Cat replied as she narrowed her eyes at Kara. No doubt, Cat had picked up on the touch of sadness and longing in Kara's voice. "Well, maybe it's time for you to go spend time with your family. I know you stayed to check on me, but I'd rather be by myself for a while."

"Ms. Grant, I don't want to leave you here alone on Christmas."

"Nonsense. I've got other things to keep me occupied." Before Kara could reply, Cat continued. "Now, chop chop, Keira. You've got places to be and people that care for you waiting. Besides, you've been limping about all day, you need to rest."

Kara looked at her shocked and a tad horrified. A million thoughts ran through Kara's head. _Does she know? How? Play it cool, Kara._ "Oh, heh-heh. I was just taking your advice and…"

"Joined a kick boxing class? Yes, I do believe that you have mentioned that before." Cat Grant smiled and led Kara back to her office. "Now, go."

Kara clumsily took a few steps as her mind still raced. Surely, Cat Grant didn't know… Right? Kara shook it off and smiled at Cat. "Thank you, Ms. Grant. Merry Christmas."

Cat nodded and watched as her assistant turned to leave, her eyes traveling down to the two pinkish spots on the back of Kara's legs. Shaking her head, Cat felt a little embarrassed at having the suspicion of her assistant being Supergirl again, especially after she had seen both Supergirl and Kara in the same room once. Besides, Supergirl didn't bruise. Cat watched her assistant as she grabbed her stuff and headed towards the elevator. She called out to her assistant. "And Kara? Thank you."

Kara smiled at Cat's sincere words. Granted, it was only four words that she had spoken, but those four words meant a lot coming from Cat Grant. Kara nodded her head and walked over to the elevator. To her surprise, the Elevator was making its way up already. _Odd,_ Kara thought. _Everybody has already went home for the day._ The elevator doors opened and Kara met brown eyes that she didn't think she would ever see again. Or at least not for a long time. Both of them stood there, just staring at each other until Kara finally found her voice.

"Adam! What are you doing here?"

"Hey, Kara." Adam smiled.

 **To Be Continued…**


End file.
